Matthew 6:8

Matthew 6:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
• New International Version (NIV)Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

Context of Matthew 6:8

6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:8 word by word

μὴ οὖν ὁμοιωθῆτε αὐτοῖς· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὧν χρείαν ἔχετε πρὸ τοῦ ὑμᾶς αἰτῆσαι αὐτόν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Beὁμοιόωhomoioō · to likenG3666
• notμήmē · notG3361
• ye thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• unto themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• Fatherπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• knowethεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• what thingsὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ye haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• need ofχρείαchreia · needG5532
• beforeπρόpro · beforeG4253
• askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154

Cross-references for Matthew 6:8

• Matthew 6:32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
• Psalms 38:9O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
• Psalms 69:17Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
• Luke 12:30For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
• John 16:23In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
• Philippians 4:6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Commentaries on Matthew 6:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of - Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven, and to put him in mind that There is his Father, his country, and inheritance. In the preceding verses we may see three faults, which our Lord commands us to avoid in prayer: - 1st. Hypocrisy. Be not as the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-8Verses 5-8 It is taken for granted that all who are disciples of Christ pray. You may as soon find a living man that does not breathe, as a living Christian that does not pray. If prayerless, then graceless. The Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of two great faults in prayer, vain-glory and vain repetitions. "Verily they have their reward;" if in so great a matter as is between us and God, when we are at prayer, we can look to so poor a thing as the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8God cannot be persuaded by repeating words over and over. The Lord’s Prayer is a simple and authoritative model (Matthew 6:9–13), unlike the lengthy prayers of pagans.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him--and so needs not to be informed of our wants, any more than to be roused to attend to them by our incessant speaking. What a view of God is here given, in sharp contrast with the gods of the heathen! But let it be carefully noted that it is not as the general Father of mankind that our Lord says, "Your Father" knoweth what ye need before ye ask…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 6:8

• Commandments
• Gentiles
• God
• God Continued...
• Motive
• Pharisees
• Prayer
• Religion

In the dictionaries

• Add
• Appear
• Closet
• Consider
• Corrupt
• Countenance
• Despise
• Fast
• Father
• Forgive

Commentaries on Matthew 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings